Covid inquiry threatens legal action after Boris Johnson’s WhatsApps ‘withheld’

The head of the Covid public inquiry has accused the Cabinet Office of holding back important information on Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic.

Lady Hallett said the former PM’s diary entries, notebooks, WhatsApp messages and emails should have been handed over by the government department.

The chairwoman has demanded Mr Johnson’s phone exchanges with his senior ministers, senior civil servants and advisers during the pandemic – insisting they were of “potential relevance” to the inquiry.

Baroness Hallett rejected arguments made by the Cabinet Office against release of “personal” exchanges – warning government officials of possible criminal sanctions in the event of legal action.

The extraordinary row comes as Mr Johnson cuts ties with the government-appointed lawyers representing him at the Covid inquiry after he was referred to police over further possible rule breaches.

Both the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police are assessing evidence about Mr Johnson’s time at Chequers, which came from official diary entries initially reviewed by the government-appointed lawyers ahead of the Covid inquiry.

In a letter to Baroness Hallett, Mr Johnson said: “I am currently instructing new solicitors to represent me in the inquiry … As at today, I am unrepresented and my counsel team have been instructed not to provide me with any advice.”

The government was accused of holding back politically sensitive content from the inquiry. A source told i: “The Cabinet Office has claimed reductions they made contained nothing of relevance. They basically pulled things that are politically embarrassing.”

But Downing Street denied the redactions were politically motivated – saying lawyers had made sure that “personal” messages were of “no relevance” to the inquiry.

“It’s our position that the inquiry does not have the power to compel to disclose unambiguously irrelevant material,” said Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman – insisting that “robust processes are in place to ensure relevant material is provided to the inquiry”.

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In a series of documents released on Wednesday, the Covid inquiry revealed a legal notice on 28 April 2023 requesting communications from the phones of Mr Johnson and his ex-adviser Henry Cook – a friend of Carrie Johnson.

They include their messages with former strategy Dominic Cummings, then health secretary Matt Hancock, chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and then-chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. The inquiry also asked for Mr Johnson’s diaries and notebooks.

But on 15 May the Cabinet Office denied the request, arguing the legal notice was unlawful. It had provided the inquiry with only redacted copies of Mr Cook’s WhatsApp messages and redacted extracts from the diary of Mr Johnson.

Baroness Hallett said the request was made under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 – pointing out that failure to comply could be a criminal offence and punishable with a fine of up to £1,000 or even imprisonment for a maximum of 51 weeks.

The Covid inquiry chair said some discussions between Mr Johnson and his advisers about the enforcement of regulations by Scotland Yard during the protests following the murder of Sarah Everard were initially redacted.

Baroness Hallett said: “Whilst those redactions have now (very recently) been removed, it was not a promising start.”

Under the legal notice, the inquiry chair – who said “entire contents of the documents” were of “potential relevance to the lines of investigation that I am pursuing” – said the Cabinet Office must provide the details by 30 May.

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The fresh turmoil comes as Mr Johnson accused the Cabinet Office of making “bizarre and unacceptable” claims after officials referred him to police over further possible lockdown violations.

His ministerial diary reportedly revealed visits by family and friends as well as officials to the PM’s grace and favour residence in Buckinghamshire between June 2020 and May 2021.

Mr Johnson’s spokesman said it was “totally untrue” there had been further rule breaches – and said Cabinet Office officials decided to make “unfounded suggestions both to the police and to the privileges committee”.

The Cabinet Office also passed on details to MPs on the cross-party privileges committee – investigating Mr Johnson over whether he lied to parliament about Covid rule breaches at No 10 – last week.

The latest revelations appeared to increase the risk that the privileges committee could sanction Mr Johnson. A spokesperson said MPs would take the new evidence passed to them by the Cabinet Office “into account” before coming to a verdict.

Rivka Gottlieb, a spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said it was “outrageous” for the government to “think they can dictate to an independent inquiry which of Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages they can see”.

She added: “With the revelations that have come out yesterday about him breaking lockdown rules, you really do fear the worst about what they’re hiding.”

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “The fact the Covid Inquiry has had to invoke legal powers to compel the handover of crucial documents suggests that this is a government with much to hide.”